New haircut
 

This is a commission that I need to have delivered by Christmas. It's from a picture again, and I don't even know this little boy's name. Please advise on any problems with composition now, before I go further. I'm not very confident of my understanding of tangents, but have tried not to create any. Sky will be a soft blue.

It's 28" x 22", oil on canvas. Again, I've chosen warm light, with cool shadows, alizarin crimson, lemon yellow, cadmium scarlet, with Winsor violet and a touch of raw umber to cool the shadows.

Jean

Forgot to post the painting!
 

Hello again.

Jean,

I'm going to just quickly respond to your query about tangents, before it gets lost in the subsequent discussion.

Often this is couched in terms of not letting objects or shapes "kiss". Imagine, say, two billiard balls, visually side-by-side, their circumferences just touching (or "kissing"). The effect is that it's quite difficult to judge depth, to say for sure whether the objects are in fact side by side, or one nearer to you than the other. If you eliminate that "kiss" by moving one ball slightly into your line of vision of the other (whether in front or behind the other), you immediately establish depth.

Another "kiss" to be avoided might be where the top of the subject's head meets exactly the line of the horizon.

What do you do if there's actually a problem with tangents in nature? You change your composition to get rid of it. Move the billiard balls (either closer to or even farther apart from each other.) Place apple partially in front of the teapot rather than alongside it. Put the portrait subject on a model stand, or take your reference photos from a lower angle. Whatever it takes.

I don't spot any such problems in this work thus far.

Jean,

I see three potential tangent problems to watch.

First, the horizon line seems to become the same shape as the curl(?) in the subject's hair on our left. The two shapes are the same value, so you can't tell where one ends and the other begins. The red dot at the horizon line forms the point of a triangle of dark foliage that sits out to the left of the subject's ear on our left. The effect is of large dark arrow, whose tail drops off into almost a pony-tail shape. You could correct this tangent by altering the placement and curve of the horizon line, and/or lightening the dark foliage so it is visually distinguishble from the hair.

Second, the lower edge of the triangle converges with the lower part of the ear, collar and vest, so that the area of the lower red dot competes with your center of interest for attention. One way to correct the triangle problem as well as the collar tangent would be to lighten the value of the foliage in the triangle.You can still have ininteresting vairety of darks and lights inthe foliage without creating this shape in this location.

Third, there is almost a straight line connecting the shapes of the upper edge of the vest and the top edge of the far hand. If you squint, you'll see that the sides of the vest and the hand from a dark "X". One way to correct this is to move the far hand downward in order to break the line.

I hope this helps; if it is unclear, please let me know.

Here's the image.

Better eye than mine, Chris. I was "stuck" on forms and not thinking in terms of extending lines to possible problem areas.

Having said that, I saw and failed to mention the tangent of the back of the elbow with the back of the vest.

Yes, Steven, good eye. And Jean, I am also seeing that you will want to avoid shapes forming parallel lines...that is, the lower edge of the vest, and the lower ege of the arm. To correct change the vest, because the arm will be too difficult to do plausibly without reshooting your model.

(Tangents, to me, are a little like the kid's game, "Where's Waldo?".) They like to sneak up on painters.

Tangents
 

Thank you for the lookover, Chris and Steven. I understand what you are saying, Chris, and now am glad I posted this. I'll change the color of the foliage by the first two dots and lower his hand per your suggestion.

I didn't take this picture, but felt it wasn't too bad to work from. The background is just a lot of people milling around, so the foliage is made up. The picture was cut off by his elbow, so I added the lower hand, vest, and pants. I'll be borrowing my grandson (age 3) over the weekend to give me a real hand to work from.

The only thing I know about this child is thst he just got his first haircut and is Hispanic. Chris, I'm using your book again for help with skin tones. It has been invaluable. Never thought mixing these colors could be so frustrating and fun. I have a lot to learn.

Thanks again,
Jean

Forgot the vest
 

I can easily change the bottom and edge below the elbow since It's made up anyway!

Jean

Jean,

I can't count the number of times when my photographed subjects' hands needed just a little "tweaking", and I called into service either of my children, or borrowed others', in order to have the right source.* To some extent the elements of your portrait that are supportive can be relatively conceptual. If I can get organized, this might be an interesting thread to start.
Jean, changing the value is more important than changing the hue.

* I include my hands as willing culprits here. What tales!